Narc

Narc was very, very fast-paced, and at times a little hard to follow... but whatever confusion I felt only added to the stark surrealism of the story. Shots of blue and gray and black, full of dark lines and sharp corners while always real somehow appeared to be strange and deep and profound. The story is gritty, filthy realism--- but I felt as though I were stepping into a completely amazing hallucination.

The acting and everything is brilliant but what really gets me is how well the feelings and the visual come together. The realism and blood becomes something deeply emotional.

I recommend it... unless you want to be all happy and sunny, in which case Narc is not for you.

NARC (2002) **** Ray Liotta, Jason Patric, Chi McBride, Krista Bridges, Busta Rhymes, Anne Openshaw, Alan Van Sprang, Richard Chevolleau, John Ortiz. Filmmaker Joe Carnahan delivers the gritty goods in this throwback homage to 1970s cop thrillers the likes made by Sidney Lumet and William Friedkin with this moralilty play about corruption, the brutal slaying of an undercover cop and some skeletons rattling around in closets shared by volatile detective Liotta (in one of his fiercest performances to date; a career high) and Patric (equally compelling; the film's barometer of fair game and confusion), a vice undercover cop attempting to redeem his reputation by being assigned to a dicey investigation of the murder of Liotta's protégé partner with more at stake than meets the eye. Carnahan's script is above average in its no-holds barred depiction of the stress-levels of on the job performances by police as well as the dire consequences for their actions and reactions thereof. High adrenalized from the get-go with one of the most pulse-quickening opening moments of any movie in recent memory that continues its brisk pacing and bruised cinematography by Alex Nepomaniaschy and modulated score by Cliff Martinez has a unique look and sound. Its two principals deliver award calibre performances in a genre flick that's more than a cut above from the usual offerings. Produced by Liotta and Tom Cruise (among others); one of the year's best.

Detroit undercover cop Nick Tellis (Jason Patric) accidentally shoots a pregnant woman who subsequently loses her child during a violent takedown. He is dismissed but he's reinstated 18 months later to investigate the murder of rookie cop Michael Calvess. His wife wants him to do something else. Despite Captain Cheevers (Chi McBride)'s misgivings, Tellis gets Calvess' unstable partner Henry Oak (Ray Liotta) reinstated on the case.

This is a hard-boiled gritty cop drama. Both Patric and Liotta have that hard worn-down edge. It has the violent brutal sense of a dirty underground. It's a throwback to a 70s sensibility of a murky police investigation.

Seeing that Ray Liotta is one of my favourite actors, I was pretty sure this movie was going to be very good. And it is a good movie. It is dark, well acted and it tells a story of how far some people are willing to go to honour the memory of a friend and colleague. One cop, Nick Tellis, suspended after a stray bullet hits a pregnant woman, is put on a murder investigation of an undercover cop. He teams up with bad ass cop Henry Oak and together they try to solve it. But if everything as it seems? Both lead actors in this movie, Jason Patrick and Ray Liotta, do a great job. You really get the feeling like you are in the movie instead of just watching it. Most of all, the characters are believable and that is so important for a movie like this. If you like thrillers with a dash of action and drama, you will enjoy this movie. I know I did. I rate this movie 7/10

It took me ages before I could get around to seing this film, but now that I have, I don't know why..

This is a very brutal movie, but a very honest one. In something that in some scenes can almost be described as dogma style, the story is about two cops workings as narcs in the underground. Jason Patric and Ray Liotta are both amazing in thier parts, they both manage to get thier characters out in a way that you actually SEE the persons they portray, instead of "just" the actors playing another role as we sadly see so very often in film these days....they actually ACT!!! Bigtime cudos for these two - I always liked both of them, but this might be the best achievements from them both so far - and especially with Ray Liotta, that says a LOT..

I recommend this film highly...NOT for children though ;-) 7/10